Germany has some great doors and portals.

I think the most exciting portal was in Berlin. The East-Side-Park Gallery is something one should not miss when visiting Berlin. This is part of the Berlin Wall. It is 1.3 kilometers of the original wall converted to an open-air art gallery. It is the longest remaining section of the wall that divided the city for 28 years. The wall features artwork by a variety of artists. It was painted as a symbol of freedom and art.

I saw this “gate” and my imagination went into overdrive. Was this part of the original border system? It is part of the original wall, but not part of the border system. It is an addition for artistic purposes. It was fun creating my own story for it until I got home and could do research! I did speak with some people there who told me of family experiences when it all happened. Families were separated from other family members depending on which side of the wall they were living. This went on from 1961-1989. Political changes and civil unrest in Germany put pressure on the East German government to loosen regulations and the Berlin Wall fell on November 9,1989. Demolition of the wall began and concluded in 1994. This paved the way for reunification of Germany which formally took place in 1990.

There are some beautiful cities in Germany. Two that I visited were Dresden (first door below) and the rest in the next few galleries are in Wittenberg.

The first door in this gallery was a very small door. Wish I had given you a better perspective on the size!!

The next set of doors are from the Cecilienhof Palace in Potsdam. This was the site of the Potsdam Conference in 1945.

The last 2 doors are in the Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam. This was built by King Frederick the Great as his summer palace, This French name means “without care or worry”…and this place looked like it was strictly for enjoyment!!

I enjoyed photographing these doors and portals. And the best part was that several doors were open inviting the viewer in! I always like to see open doors.

Simply put, Prague is a magnificent city. And for me, it was one magnificent door after another. Prior to this trip to Prague (my second time in 6 months) my friend Dorothy had forwarded to me a picture of a door in Prague that she had seen online. She knows how much I love doors. When I saw the photo I knew I had to find it and take my own photograph. I researched “sunflower door, Prague” and I found it and got the address! Ahhhh the wonders of the internet! How did we ever get information prior to the internet? It is known as The Sunflower Gate. It was built in 1900 by Austrian born-Czech architect Osvald Polivka (1859-1931). He was associated with the Secession/Art Nouveau period in Prague. I was so thrilled to find it!!

If you need to store your luggage you can rent Luggage storage! Always love to see doors open to me. And in this blog I wanted to include this lovely walk through.

The second “door” in the row below was on a building across from the Charles Bridge. It was a door opening from an upstairs room so that one could step out on the balcony to enjoy the view. The third door was a door to the rest rooms at La Republica restaurant!

The next three doors were at the Strahov Monastery. There is also a beer garden here where beers are brewed by the monks.

The first door in the next set was taken in Kampa Park. This is an island located on the water’s edge next to the Charles bridge on the Vitava River. The next two are located in Lesser Town, the historical district in old Prague.

There were so many beautiful doors to be seen. I am quite certain that if I get back to Prague there will be many more doors for me to see.

Just back from a trip to Prague and Berlin. I was in Prague in December 2024 and was very happy to be returning to the city on this trip. It was a real bonus that I did not need to be bundled up in a coat, hat and scarf. Back then I wished for being in shirtsleeves and enjoying the sun! Of course, one should be careful what you wish for because this trip gave me a record-breaking heat wave in Europe!

I’ll start off with fashion in the streets in Prague. The temperature was close to 100 degrees each day that I was there. Lots of dresses and linen pants, lots of sneakers! What totally amazed me was women wearing heels on cobblestone. I would have ended up in an emergency room if I tried to walk across the street in heels!

On to Berlin. Berlin is a city just like NYC. Again, lots of dresses, maxi skirts, linen wide leg pants.

While in Berlin I went to Galeria Kaufhof. After this trip I know that I am addicted to knowing what is going on in fashion wherever I go. After being on a tour for hours I decided to walk from the hotel to Galeria Kaufhof. It was close to 100 degrees. It was 2 miles round trip! I must have been out of my mind, but it was a really beautiful upscale department store. Here are photos that I took. Had I had more room in my suitcase and more time I would have considered picking up a few things at the sale that was going on. I did purchase a scarf. Always room for a scarf!

I hope that you have enjoyed this short fashion crawl in Prague and Berlin.